UFC 256 saw new contenders emerge in three different divisions.
UFC 256 was a showcase for new contenders. The main event saw Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno go to a draw, but the rest of the main card saw fighters like Ciyrl Gane, Kevin Holland, and Charles Oliveira take out longtime contenders in Junior dos Santos, Jacare Souza, and Tony Ferguson. All three of the winning fighters were rewarded with big jumps in the rankings in their respective divisions.
Here’s a look at all of the changes coming out of the UFC’s last PPV of the year.
Men’s P4P – Max Holloway falls one spot to eight. Figueiredo is up one to nine. Petr Yan drops one to 11. Francis Ngannou is up one to 14. Jan Blachowicz enters the list at 15.
Heavyweight – Gane moves up seven big spots to seven following his finish of Dos Santos. JDS falls three spots to ten. Aleksei Oleinik, Walt Harris, Sergei Pavlovich, and Blagoy Ivanov all fall one spot each to 11 through 14 respectively.
Light Heavyweight – No changes.
Middleweight – Holland rises five spots to crack the top ten. Chris Weidman, Edmen Shahbazyan, Omari Akhmedov, Brad Tavares, and Ian Heinisch all drop a spot each to 11 through 15.
Welterweight – No changes.
Lightweight – Do Bronx is up four spots to sit at three. Ferguson falls one spot to four. Conor McGregor is down one to five. Dan Hooker and Rafael dos Anjos also fall a spot each to six and seven.
Featherweight – No changes.
Bantamweight – No changes.
Flyweight – Kai Kara France drops from a tie for seven to take over eight on his own.
Women’s P4P – No changes.
Women’s Bantamweight – Ketlen Vieira and Julianna Pena flip-flop the six and seven spots.
Women’s Flyweight – Jennifer Maia is up one spot to four, dropping Cynthia Calvillo to five. Alexis Davis is also up one spot, to 12, while Gillian Robertson falls one slot to the 13 position.
Women’s Strawweight – Tecia Torres moves up one spot into a tie for nine with Amanda Ribas following her nice UFC 256 win. Surprisingly, Mackenzie Dern doesn’t move at all despite her big win.